Four years on, and the remnants of their venture into new territory can barely be heard on Strangeland. The twinkly intro on trailer single 'Silenced By The Night' is about as much as they dare to gamble, but their expertise in ear-snagging melodies, courtesy of Tim Rice-Oxley, thankfully remains stronger than ever.
The sparkling choruses continue largely throughout, and the formula is switched up just enough to accuse them of resting on their laurels. The anthemic chimes of 'Disconnected', Stereophonics-esque 'Starting Line' and wistful 'Sovereign Light Café' will be branded "inoffensive" and "play-safe" by some, but there's something oddly refreshing about their familiarity in today's climate of genre mash-ups and head-spinning dubstep breakdowns.
'Black Rain' sees them briefly dipping their toes into Radiohead waters, albeit tentatively and with mixed results, while closing track 'Sea Fog', by its title alone, is enough to feed their detractors. Strangeland it certainly isn't, but it's like our nan always said: if it ain't broke...
Tracks to download: 'Silenced By The Night', 'Disconnected', 'Sovereign Light Café', 'Starting Line'
If you like this, you'll like: Snow Patrol, Coldplay, Travis
Watch Keane's 'Diconnected' music video below:
